Generous Mom Donates Breast Milk To Hurricane Victims

By Harvey Princeton, Published on Sep 6, 2017

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Danielle Palmer got some bad news about the health of her newborn son Truett: he was diagnosed with a congenital heart disorder. With her positive attitude and her outside of the box thinking, she was able to turn this troubling news into much-needed help for Hurricane Harvey victims.

Because Truett, the youngest of Danielle’s three sons, has the medical issue with his heart, he was fed via IV for quite some time. This left Danielle with loads of extra breast milk, which she pumped out. Instead of wasting it by throwing it into the trash, she froze the bottles. This routine continued for about a month, and she ended up accumulating a huge amount of milk.

When Danielle told Truett’s speech therapist that she had stored a whopping 1000 ounces of breast milk (about 8 gallons) in her freezer, the therapist suggested to perhaps look into donating it. There are many newborns in Houston who may not have access to breast milk, and with the devastating flooding, it’s hard to get any nourishment. Texas streets are not traversable and the stores are empty.

Danielle immediately took to the idea. “I know there are mothers who want to feed their babies breastmilk who can’t. And [donating it] better than ruining or tossing [it] out. So, at least, Truett and I can share some love in that aspect.”

While Danielle stayed home to take care of her boys, the speech therapist and Palmer’s midwife took the milk to Texas in a cooler, making sure that it was frozen the whole time, to avoid any spoilage.

Turning her almost-trash into treasure for those in need lights her up. Palmer remarked that “if [she] can help alleviate some stress from those moms, then [her] job has been done.”

Donation can be complex, so it’s important to check with an official to see if milk donation is an option for you.